WBBL wrap: Stars storm home as rain stays away

Melbourne Stars defeat Hobart Hurricanes by eigt wickets

Full scorecard

By Sam Ferris, at Drummoyne Oval

The Melbourne Stars finally completed a match this Rebel WBBL season and they didn't disappoint, comprehensively beating the Hobart Hurricanes by eight wickets.

English duo Katherine Brunt (3-17) and Natalie Sciver (3-21) starred with the ball to restrict Hobart to 9-89 before Elyse Villani led the successful run chase with 51 not out from 32 balls.

Image Id: 795AE9D96F4244DCBE885C99FFE90A84 Image Caption: Nat Sciver (pictured) and Katherine Brunt was the pick of the Stars bowlers, taking 3-17 and 3-21 respectively // Getty

The Stars have been frustrated by Sydney's wet weather in the opening weeks of WBBL|06, left powerless as their first three matches were called off at different stages due to rain.

Persistent precipitation proved the enemy of the first match at Drummoyne Oval on Sunday and it looked like rain might rob the Stars of a fourth-straight match.

But the skies cleared enough to the get the game underway after a slight delay and reduction of just one over per innings, and it was the Stars who showed the class that has them considered one of the tournament favourites.

Melbourne had Hobart four wickets down by the time the five-over powerplay was completed but between the carnage Naomi Stalenberg hit a contender for shot of the season – a flat-bat smash over cover for six off Sciver's bowling.

Nicola Carey (26no) was the only Hurricanes batter to pass 20, while Tess Flintoff supported Brunt and Sciver with 2-5 from two overs.

The run chase was all Stars from the second over when Villani crashed three fours from the off-spin of overseas import Hayley Matthews.

Villani's aggression sent the white ball flying to all parts of the ground for eight boundaries, and while it might night have implicated the result, the right-hander was given a life on 19 and 29.

Villani brought up her half-century from 32 balls with back-to-back sixes off Chloe Tryon – both full tosses helped over the backward square rope – as Sciver (15no) hit the winning runs with 46 balls to spare.

Sydney Sixers defeat Melbourne Renegades by eight wickets

Full scorecard

By Laura Jolly, at Sydney Showgrounds

A blazing chase from Alyssa Healy has seen the Sydney Sixers romp to an eight-wicket win over the Melbourne Renegades at Showground Stadium.

Set 120 from 18 overs for victory after Georgia Wareham scored a quickfire 54 from 27 deliveries, Healy signaled her intent when she smacked 18 runs off Australian teammate Sophie Molineux’s opening over.

Her captain Ellyse Perry (20no off 27) was able to relax at the non-striker’s end and enjoy the show as Healy hammered the Renegades attack to all corners – driving, pulling and sweeping her way to a half-century from 27 deliveries.

Swapping bat for ball, Wareham brought Healy undone skiing a catch in the eighth over, but the damage had been done, with her 60 from 31 putting the Sixers well on track for victory.

Ashleigh Gardner (20 off 8) picked up where she left off, striking two sixes, before Perry and Erin Burns (16no) saw the Sixers home with 29 balls to spare.

With the game revised to 18 overs a side following a brief early delay, the Sixers quicks were well on top early, as Marizanne Kapp (1-17) bowled compatriot Lizelle Lee (9) before teenager Stella Campbell (3-32) rattled Erin Fazackerley’s stumps.

A juggling catch from Hayley Silver-Holmes then had Renegades captain Amy Satterthwaite on her way for two, while Molineux’s attempt to get moving only saw her hole out to Ashleigh Gardner (1-16) on 23.

At 5-66 in the 14th over the Renegades looked well off the pace, but that changed when Wareham arrived in the middle.

Typically known for her leg-spin at Australian level, Wareham made the most of being handed a life on nine to score her maiden WBBL fifty, striking five fours and four maximums in a whirlwind cameo.

She hammered 16 runs from Perry’s final over, including a six from the last ball to bring up her first WBBL fifty and see the Renegades to 7-119.

Sydney Thunder defeat Brisbane Heat by 14 runs

Full scorecard

By Laura Jolly, at Sydney Showgrounds

Sydney’s wet weather and reigning champions Brisbane Heat were not enough to stop the Sydney Thunder claiming their second straight win in the Rebel WBBL.

Batting first under threatening skies, Rachel Trenaman (28) and Tammy Beaumont (30) laid the foundation with a 71-run opening stand, as the Thunder reached 3-80 from 12.1 overs when the heavens opened, forcing a lengthy delay.

Set a revised 45 from five overs to win, the Heat crumbled against a spin-heavy Thunder attack, limited to 7-30 in reply as the Sydney team notched a 14-run (DLS) win.

Brisbane had elevated Grace Harris and Jess Jonassen to open and the latter made a bright start, scoring back-to-back boundaries off the bowling of Shabnim Ismail.

However Harris could not replicate her fireworks from the previous weekend’s chase against the Scorchers, stumped off the bowling of left-arm spinner Sam Bates for two.

Her sister Laura Kimmince suffered an identical fate two balls later, out without scoring, as Bates’ double-wicket maiden left Brisbane a herculean task.

The Thunder stuck with spin as the pressure mounted, as Amelia Kerr holed out off the bowling of Lauren Smith, before her compatriot Maddy Green and skipper Jonassen both suffered the same fate to another off-spinner in Heather Knight the following over.

Knight then bowled Georgia Redmayne for naught to finish with 3-4 from her sole over.

Strikers v Scorchers - No Result

Full scorecard

By Sam Ferris, at Drummoyne Oval

Sydney's wet weather spoiled a tantalising run chase in the first match at Drummoyne Oval on Sunday as Perth Scorchers and Adelaide Strikers shared the points.

Showers throughout the morning meant it was a stop-start affair, but sadly the rain won out 2.5 overs into Perth's pursuit of a revised target of 52 from seven overs.

The Scorchers were 1-25 when showers forced the teams from the field, with Beth Mooney (12no) and Nicole Bolton (8no) 10 runs short of the DLS par score after the five overs needed for a match.

Rain had earlier reduced the match to 10 overs per side, with the Strikers posting 4-70 off the back of Stafanie Taylor's whirlwind 30 from 16 balls.

Without Taylor's cameo the Strikers would have struggled to amass a substantial total having failed to hit a boundary until the fourth over.

Both openers, Tahlia McGrath and Laura Wolvaardt, were out top-edging seamer Taneale Peschel in the fifth over before Bridget Patterson was out for five in the eighth over.

That's when Taylor exploded, taking three fours off spinner Sarah Glenn (two conventional, one accidental) and then struck 10 in two balls against Bolton's off-spin. 

She was out to allrounder Sophie Devine in the final over, allowing Madeline Penna to step up. The 20-year-old slapped the Scorchers' skipper over square leg for six and followed it with a pull shot to the rope to lift her side to a defendable 70.

The run chase, albeit less than three overs, ebbed and flowed, starting with young gun Darcie Brown removing the damaging Devine for a four-ball duck.

But that's when Mooney and Bolton steadied the ship, hitting a boundary each off ace swing bowler Megan Schutt to have their side in control when the rain hit.